Gene. Sys.

by Garcia, Aaron Denius

  “No!” Dr. Metzger shouts.

  I put my hand on Titan’s rifle and force him to lower it.

  “Marco. What’s up there?” Dr. Metzger asks as the scientist reaches us.

  “They are coming!” Marco says, hiding behind the group.

  Titan and Sodi raise their guns. The rest of us do the same. They don’t know that most of these guns will only leave a welt.

  Two outsiders turn the corner at the end of the hallway and are immediately met with a barrage of bullets. Titan and Sodi each connect with a lethal shot. A third person turns the corner but dives back for cover. He pokes his head around and I immediately recognize him as Joey, the guy Dr. Kivuli was talking to a couple nights ago.

  “The Genesys are here!” Joey yells back down his hallway.

  He pokes his head around the corner again but is instantly met with a bullet to the head. He falls to the ground.

  “Got him,” Sodi says coldly.

  “Nice shot.” Cal smacks her on the shoulder.

  “Titan, Sodi. Get in front. You will lead us down the hall. Shoot at anything that turns the corner. Keep your ears open,” I order.

  We make our way down the hallway and it isn’t until we are halfway there that we hear footsteps coming. There are so many that it sounds like an army. I look around and see that our only options are to turn back or to fight our attackers.

  “Cover me,” I shout as I run towards the two fallen outsiders. When I reach them I grab their rifles and pull them off. As I run back, Titan and Sodi begin shooting. The bullets fly past my head.

  The other Genesys have scattered against the walls and are shooting their non-lethal guns as well. Suddenly something bites my left arm and the warm sting reminds me of when I was shot on the roof of the outsiders’ building. I ignore the pain and run back to the group.

  “Hydro! Al!” I yell out as I toss each of them the rifles I collected.

  They catch the guns and step up to the front where Sodi and Titan are. Together, we shoot and take out the first few outsiders that come around the corner. There are a couple moments of calm and then two small canisters bounce off one of the hallway walls and roll towards us.

  Instantly the canisters release a gas that fills the hallway.

  “Cover your faces!” Dr. Metzger shouts.

  I pull my shirt over my mouth and nose. When I look around, the few Genesys that I can see have done the same.

  “Everyone down!” I shout as I get flat on my stomach. This will reduce the amount of surface area that can be hit.

  We all shoot towards the end of the hallway, hoping that it will buy us time. With the smoke filling the hallway, we are easy targets. Bullets fly over my head and, after a few pass by, I hear a grunt behind me. Someone was hit.

  The grunt was definitely male and I find myself hoping that it didn’t hit anyone anywhere vital. I shift to get into a better shooting position, when a sharp pain in my arm reminds me that I was shot.

  If the smoke doesn’t lift soon, we are all dead. I think about telling the Genesys to retreat back into our old hallways, but a surprising noise stops my thought. A barrage of shots is being fired from the opposite side of the hallway ahead of us. After a few deafening moments of gunfire and screams, it all stops.

  “It’s all clear,” a voice calls out ahead of us.

  I look around but I can’t see anyone, not even the Genesys I know is next to me. None of us are moving though, we are being cautious.

  “We are here to help, Atom,” the voice calls out again.

  “We’re coming,” I say.

  “Atom, no,” Ev calls out.

  “It’s okay. If these guys wanted us dead they would have shot at us while we are still in the smoke. They don’t have time to play around.” I stand up and can hear everyone else doing the same.

  As I walk towards the end of the hallway, the smoke gets lighter and I can tell that the people calling us forward are a group of about a dozen drones. My thoughts return to the grunt I heard and I wonder who it was that got shot.

  One by one the Genesys make their way to the end of the hallway and join me with the drones. Titan and Sodi raise their rifles when they see them, but I push their rifles back down. After Ox walks out, carrying Mag, there is a long moment of inactivity.

  “Where’s Cal?” Al asks.

  My heart races and a lump jumps up in my throat. He was the one who was shot. “Cal!”

  A few others join in shouting his name. Just as I’m about to go back into the smoke to find him, a silhouette appears. It’s one person dragging another one. After a couple more steps I see that Cal is dragging Marco.

  Dr. Metzger runs over and checks on Marco. “He’s dead.”

  “Damn,” Cal says as he drops Marco’s body.

  “We need to go,” one of the drones says.

  I look around and see about thirty outsiders lying on the ground. We wouldn’t have stood a chance if these drones hadn’t shown up.

  “If you don’t have one, grab a gun!” I shout. I run over to the closest outsider and swap his gun for mine. The remaining Genesys do the same.

  Once we are all equipped with lethal rifles, we follow the drones back down the hallway they came from. They lead us down a couple more hallways and finally through a set of doors that takes us to the fields behind the scientists’ quarters.

  As we pour out into the open I see that there isn’t much activity back here. It seems like the majority of the fighting is happening inside and in the front of the compound.

  A missile hits the ground to our left where the corn and other vegetables are. Where Dr. Kivuli is. My thoughts jump back to what Dr. Kivuli said, that 80 had shot her. It still doesn’t make sense. It can’t be right.

  “Let’s go!” a drone orders.

  They jog ahead and we do our best to keep up with them. Ox is slowed by having to carry Mag and none of us wants to leave them behind. Sil seems to be the only one keeping pace with the drones.

  Before I can blink, my body gets thrown back. A missile slams into the drones in front of us. I jump back to my feet as fast as I can and run to the point of impact. The explosion of the missile has left a ringing in my ear.

  I reach the drones at the same time as Titan and K. Most of them have been blown to pieces, but there are three who I can see are picking themselves up. Sil’s screams draw my attention the ground to my left. Titan and K get to him before I do.

  They are rolling him onto his back as I arrive. His body is covered with scattered cuts, including his face. It seems as though he was showered with shrapnel.

  “I can’t see!” Sil yells.

  I inspect his face again and see that there are cuts from shrapnel around his eyes. Dr. Metzger arrives and kneels by my side.

  She inspects Sil’s eyes carefully. “They should heal fine once you get into the hyperbaric chamber at your bunker. Don’t rub them or touch them.”

  Another explosion goes off behind us, near the library again. All of the Genesys have gotten back up to their feet and are walking over to us. Some of them are trying to rub the ringing out of their ears. I notice that mine still have a faint ring, but I ignore it.

  “We need to keep moving,” one of the remaining drones says.

  I look at K. “Will you guide Sil and make sure he’s protected?”

  “Yeah,” she says without hesitation. We stand and then help Sil stand. He groans in pain as he gets to his feet. K takes his hand and places it on her shoulder. “Don’t let go.”

  “I won’t,” Sil says with a shaking fear in his voice.

  We press on, walking at a quickened pace. A few more missiles explode around us, but none close enough to do more than spray some dirt on us. We stay as close to the building as we can to at least provide us some cover.

  As we get closer and closer to the end of the scientists’ quarters, the screams, shots, and other sounds of fighting grow louder. I can’t help but think that we are missing Fe by traveling outside the buildings.


  We arrive at a part of the compound where the building connects to the exterior wall and we have no other option than to reenter the building. The drones lead the way through a door to make sure the coast is clear. After firing a few shots, they wave us in.

  “Keep Ox, Mag and Sil in the middle,” I shout to the other Genesys. “We need to protect them and make sure we all make it to the Flyz.”

  We all reorganize to make sure that those three are in the middle. Dr. Metzger joins them and grabs the rifle from Sil.

  “What are you doing?” Sil calls out.

  “You can’t see,” she answers back.

  “Do you even know how to shoot?” Sodi mocks her.

  “About as well as you know how to practice medicine.” Dr. Metzger raises her gun and aims it down the hallway.

  We continue forward and turn at the end of the hallway. As we walk I look into an open door on the right and instantly recognize the room. It’s the surveillance room. There is no one in the room but the monitors are all functioning and show various images of the outsiders’ city. It’s quiet with the exception of a few people walking around as if it were just another day. It seems, though, that the majority of the outsiders are here, fighting.

  As we press on, the two Genesys at the end of the pack, Ev and Al, fire their guns. I look back and see a couple of outsiders, a couple of drones and a scientist on the ground. I don’t recognize the scientist, but he must have been one of the Mutineers.

  When we reach the end of this hallway, the drones stop. Titan and I jog up to the drones.

  “What is it?” Titan asks.

  One of the drones holds a finger to his mouth and points around the corner. Titan and I peek around. Halfway down the hall is an open double door. There is a fairly consistent stream of outsiders and drones running into the room empty handed. When they exit the room, they are all carrying a weapon. Most of the weapons are guns.

  I look at Titan. “What do you think?”

  He shrugs. “That must be the real weapons cache.”

  “It is,” one of the drones speaks up. “We will run at them and take out as many as we can; try to thin the herd.”

  “Shoot the ones coming out with the weapons,” I say. “We will shoot the ones running into the room.”

  Titan and I move back to let the three drones step up to the corner. My shoulder gets bumped from behind and when I look, I see Dr. Metzger standing next to me.

  “I’ll go with you,” she says to the drones.

  “No,” I hear Ev say behind us.

  “We need to make sure you guys make it,” Dr. Metzger says definitively.

  “Wait.” I look at the drones. “Where do we go from here?”

  “At the end of this hallway, there is a double door that leads to the hangar that holds the rollpods,” he answers.

  “Is that where all the people are coming from?” I ask.

  “Yes. That is also where the major battle is happening, but it’s the only way to get to the hangar with the Flyz,” he says as he looks back around the corner. “We should go.”

  In an instant, the three drones turn the corner and run towards the weapons cache, firing their guns. Dr. Metzger runs behind them, she’s shooting as well, but struggling. They manage to kill about a dozen before the outsiders and other drones return fire.

  Titan and I shoot from our covered position around the corner and manage to hit a few ourselves. One of the drones protecting us gets hit and then another.

  I look back at the other Genesys. “Sodi. Come shoot!”

  She happily takes my place and I turn to the others. “K, stay here with Ox and watch over Mag and Sil. Wait for us to call you forward. The rest of you come with me. We are going to have to attack, and fast.”

  I rejoin Titan and Sodi at the corner and look around. The plan has worked, as the majority of our attackers have been shot. The lone remaining drone and Dr. Metzger are still shooting, mostly at the incoming outsiders and drones.

  “Let’s go!” I shout.

  The seven of us charge, shooting at the attackers that are still standing and the few that continue to run into the hallway. Just before we reach Dr. Metzger and the drone, two outsiders run out from the weapons cache, firing. Dr. Metzger hits one in the leg, but the other hits her in her chest. She falls over.

  “No!” I hear Ev and Hydro shout. They must have all bonded with her.

  We take care of those two outsiders and make our way to the weapons cache. Every couple of moments a new outsider, drone or scientist steps into the hallway, but they are quickly taken care of.

  “Watch the hallway,” the drone demands.

  He runs into the weapons cache and is followed in by Sodi and Al.

  “K! Ox!” I yell back to let them know they should join us.

  I return my focus to the hallway and see Titan and Ev handling any new threats that come into the end of the hallway.

  When I peek into the weapons cache I see Sodi switching her gun out for a sniper rifle. Al is adding a few knives to his arsenal and the drone is tucking in his shirt and stuffing anything sharp into his pockets.

  Right behind them I see something on a shelf that makes me smile—a chain, a real chain. I drop the simulation chain that is still wrapped around me and grab the one from the shelf, it’s slightly heavier and colder than the other one.

  One by one the Genesys take turns going into the weapons cache and grabbing the weapons of their choice. Once we are all equipped we gather back in the hallway.

  “Do not follow me in,” the drone states as he turns towards the end of the hallway. “You will know when to go.”

  He takes off running and we walk down the hallway behind him, adding cover fire when needed. In an instant he turns the corner and is gone. I run towards the end of the hallway, but before I get there, a boom stops me in my tracks. The metal doors leading into the hangar are blown into the hallway. One of them has a small knife sticking out of it.

  “Did he just blow himself up?” Cal shouts as he catches up to me.

  “Yeah.” I’m in disbelief. I can’t believe the drone would voluntarily do that. It certainly has bought us some time.

  I look around the corner and assess the situation out in the hangar. A massive amount of bodies lie on the ground. Some are beginning to pick themselves up, but the majority are down for good. To the right, the sharp glare of the sun is penetrating through a hole at the top of the ramp the rollpods used. The flow of attackers streaming through the hole breaks up the shine of the sun.

  At the opposite end of the hangar I see a fairly large group of scientists and drones protecting a door. Most of the scientists seem out of place holding guns. Among them is Dr. Cicca. I’m happy to see she is on our side.

  I realize that we only have a few more moments before the attackers replenish their numbers. This is where my training needs to pay off. I look next to me and see the two metal doors that were blown off. I shoot one of them with my gun and the bullet doesn’t penetrate.

  “Ev, Hydro and Al. Grab the doors and wedge them together in a ‘V’,” I order and they do as they are told. “Titan. You, Sodi, Cal and I will provide cover fire as we move to the opposite and of the hangar. Ox and K, you stay in the middle and get Sil and Mag to the other side.”

  We all get into position. Ev, Hydro and Al raise the doors and hold them up to protect our bodies from the front. Titan and Sodi walk next to the doors to cover any attackers from the front of side, while Cal and I cover the back.

  I look back down the hallway one last time, wishing to see Fe, but all I see are bodies on the ground. I can only hope that she has already made it to the Flyz.

  “Who are we?” I shout as I turn my attention back to the hangar.

  “Genesys!” they all shout in unison.

  We move quickly into the hangar and are immediately met by gunfire. The bullets ricochet of the metal doors, giving us the protection I had anticipated. Titan and Sodi open fire; soon after Cal and I fire our guns at the outsider
s, scientists and drones that run up behind us.

  “They’re coming!” I hear Dr. Cicca yell from the other side of the hangar.

  I turn my head briefly to see a large group of drones peel off from protecting the door to come and protect us. When we reach the middle of the hangar, the drones have completely surrounded us and help us reach the other end.

  The few scientists and drones directly in front of the door peel away to let us through. Al, Hydro and Ev drop the doors and run through. K leading Sil and Ox carrying Mag follow them through. As Titan and Sodi stop their cover fire to go through, I see a large wave of attackers run down the ramp. Leading them down is 13 and the outsider Petros, that nearly killed me when I ran to the pyramid with 80.

  Cal and I help the scientists and drones with suppressing fire. A hand falls on my shoulder that startles me and when I look back I see Dr. Cicca. She has sweat running down her face, but I don’t see any fear.

  “Get through the doors!” she yells at me.

  “Atom!” Cal shouts from behind me.

  I turn just as he pushes me out of the way and a bullet hits him in the stomach. He falls limp to the ground in front of me.

  “Cal!” I scream. I look in the direction of where the shot came from and see 13 kneeling with a sniper rifle. He’s resetting his aim at me but before he can shoot again, a group of scientists and drones get in his way.

  I stand and grab Cal by his arms. As I pull him through the door, he leaves a trail of blood on the ground. The door shuts once we are completely through.

  “Somebody help!” I yell. I put Cal’s arms down and check his vitals. “He’s not breathing and I can’t feel a pulse!”

  Hydro, Al and Ev have all arrived at my side.

  “Wake up, Cal!” Al grabs Cal’s arm.

  “Get him in one of the Flyz,” I hear Rene shout from behind me.

  I turn to look and already see Mag and Ox in theirs. Titan and Sodi are climbing into theirs.

  “Help me carry him,” I tell Al.